In Search of Solace
by GunnyBadger
Summary: A story taking place in an AU where the Vytal Festival is canceled due to the events that transpired in Volume 2 of RWBY. The main character, Sable Inari, is a transfer to Beacon who is thrust into a much more dangerous tournament known as The Gauntlet. Sable and the other students will be tested on their survival skills that they will need in order to be a Huntsman/Huntress.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! So I know it's been a while since I really got a lot of content out to you all. This was because of my busy work schedule and some personal things I had to deal with in my own life. However, to make it up to you guys I've decided to finally let a little project of mine that I was planning back when I was close to finishing Egle Rising to see the light of day. This story is probably my boldest adventure yet which I hope will help me rediscover my writing spark. Hope you guys enjoy!**

* * *

 **In Search of Solace**

 **I**

"Why the hell do I have to go to Beacon?" Sable Inari groaned as her parents walked her to the platform where an airship was waiting to take new students to Beacon Academy.

"Language!" Dawn Inari, Sable's mother, snapped at her daughter. "And we've been over this, young lady. Your father and I have decided that you need better discipline and the best way for you to get that is to train at a Huntsman academy." She continued with a frown.

"But I'm going to be transferring into the second year! In the middle of the year at that! You expect me to succeed, let alone make friends, with people who have already had years of training at other schools _and_ a full year at Beacon? I'm going to be so far behind." Sable whined in response.

Sable, who was eighteen, had been homeschooled since she was sixteen. Her adoptive parents, Dawn and Sage Inari, had taken her in shortly after they moved to Vale from Menagerie. Before her adoption she grew up alone on the streets of Vale due to being orphaned at the age of ten. Her six years alone had forced her to grow up fast and to teach herself to fight, steal, and sometimes kill. Her parents came across her after witnessing her arrest after being caught stealing from a dust shop.

Sable was a faunus, her animal feature being a fluffy black and white fox tail, who stood at five foot nine and had long black with brown stripped hair that she kept in a high ponytail. Her hair went down to her hips and had multiple hairpieces in the ponytail which were spaced evenly going down the length of her hair that kept it tight. She had bright red eyes and green plugs in her ears. She wore a grey tank top with a red sports jacket. She also wore a pair of black utility pants that were somewhat baggy around the hips. The tank top ended an inch or so above the pants which exposed part of a black tattoo that was on her right hip and went upwards into the shirt.

Appearance wise, Sable was in extremely good shape. She had taken pride in her self-motivated workout and training regime. She was so dedicated to her training that many times her mother would fuss at her for staying up late into the night practicing her sword swings or meditating at random times during the day. Sable's father, however, was always supportive of her training and even tried working out with her at times.

She had always been a troubled young lady due to her rough upbringing, but her new parents had tried everything in their power to help her straighten out her life. Them enrolling Sable into Beacon Academy was just the latest part of their desperate ploy to get her to end her rebellious streak. Her father, being a new teacher at Beacon, deeply believed that Sable's strength and fighting abilities would make her a natural Huntress. He had even gone as far as trying to give her several pep talks over the past couple nights to make her want to pursue being a Huntress.

"Listen to your mother, Sable." Sage sighed, stopping in his tracks to turn to his daughter. "You have natural skills and it's best if you learned to put them to a good use."

Sable rolled her eyes and threw her duffle bag over her shoulder before walking ahead of her parents. The Inari's were good people but they were never able to understand the hell that Sable had gone through. She never knew how to thank them for everything they had done for her but at the same time, even after two years of being their daughter, she didn't want them to get too close to her. The only perfect thing about her situation was that her parents were also fox faunus, so most people didn't ask many questions when they saw the three in public.

"What are we going to do with her?" Dawn groaned as she let Sable walk a little further ahead of her.

"Relax, sweetie. You remember what the cops told us. She's a damaged child. We've done everything we can for her and now it's time for her to learn skills that fit her personality." Sage replied as he threw his arm around his wife's shoulders as they walked. "Besides, I'll be there in a few days and I'll make sure she doesn't get into too much trouble." He continued.

Sable's lip twitched as she overheard the sickening moment between her parents. She had never liked how affectionate they could be. Every time one of them tried acting mushy it made her want to punch a wall.

"All new students to Beacon Academy are to report to platform seven immediately." Came the sudden sound of the PA system in the station.

Sable stopped in her tracks and looked back at her parents who simply smiled at her. She had argued with them for weeks about not wanting to attend Beacon. However, she did understand their reasoning for wanting her to go. Sometimes she would lie awake as she thought of ways to thank them for their love and parenting but she could never come up with the words. She sighed deeply before smiling back at them and waving them along to her.

"Well, aren't you two gonna see me off? It's not like we'll have many more chances to have seeing your daughter off for her first day of school moments, right?" She gave them a sly grin as the embarrassment of the moment set in on her mother's face.

Her father approached her and quickly hugged her tightly. Sable's tail twitched as she struggled in her father's strong grip. She could feel her face flush as other new students started to notice the moment. She shot a few glares at some of the students who quickly went about their business. She instantly understood that this was his way of getting payback for her embarrassing comment.

"Okay, okay. You've made your point, old man." She growled as her father finally allowed her to wiggle free. "What about you, ma? You gonna go out of your way to embarrass the shit out of me too?" She tilted her head over at her mother who approached her.

"Language! I swear, I don't know how many times I have to correct you on that." Dawn snapped at Sable again. "But no, I think your father did enough of that for the both of us. Just remember to study hard and train even harder. Your father will be there in a few days and will do whatever he needs to help you adjust. But we do understand that you won't want us in your hair too much." She continued.

"Oh, don't do that. Please, mom? You know I love you both and won't mind a call here or there. Besides, it'll be nice to have some contact with someone I trust every now and then. Especially seeing how I doubt I'll even be able to make friends. Everyone in my class will already have their own circles." Sable groaned before giving her mom a reassuring smile.

"Sable, sweetie." Dawn replied. "You'll do fine. Trust us for once. Now get going before you miss your flight, kid." She finished before hugging Sable briefly.

Sable nodded and hurried onto the airship. After several minutes of waiting in her seat she nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt the ship rise into the air. This was her first trip on an airship so she was unsure what it would be like. So far, it wasn't her favorite thing in the world. She was looking out her window nervously when she felt someone take a seat next to her and lean past her to look out the window with her.

"First time flying?" Came a young man's voice just behind her.

Sable turned her head to get a look at her new found companion. The stranger that was sitting next to her was a kind looking young man, he appeared to be the same age as her, who had shaggy golden hair and bright green eyes behind a pair of simple glasses. He had a boyish grin on his face as he looked past Sable towards the window. He wore a navy blue t-shirt with an image of Shade Academy's logo on it along with a pair of jeans and a pair of orange and white sneakers. He was a decently stocky young guy but was overall average in appearance. His eyes met Sable's and he tilted his head slightly as if to silently repeat his question.

"Yeah, is it that obvious?" Sable replied to the stranger before closing her eyes and sitting back against her chair.

"Maybe a little. The sick look on your face and the shaking leg kind of gave it away." The stranger replied, to which Sable's eyes snapped open as she realized her leg was shaking violently.

Sable instantly crossed her legs and looked out the window as she tried to pretend like what the stranger was saying wasn't true. But deep down she could feel her stomach lurch as airsickness set in. It was true that she had never flown before and she was feeling a little nervous about it but she wasn't about to let this guy make fun of her for it.

After a few minutes of trying her best to put up her best tough girl act, she leaned her head against the window and let out a small groan. This made the young man next to her laugh gently as he started fishing through the bag he had at his feet for something. After a few moments he extended his hand, which had a piece of gum with an airship on the wrapper in it. Sable just shifted her eyes to glance at his hand and then at his face, cautious of a stranger being so nice.

"Here, take this. It'll help with the airsickness. I can't stand flying either so I always make sure I stock up on these little miracle workers." The young man said with a grin but after a few moments of awkward silence he realized that Sable wasn't going to take the piece of gum so he shrugged before peeling the wrapper off and putting it in his own mouth. "Suit yourself, if you want we can switch seats for when you need to run to the restroom. Wouldn't want you to puke in your seat while on your way to your first day at Beacon." He continued with a sly grin.

Sable simply rolled her eyes in response and continued to look out the window. She didn't care if she felt a little sick, she wasn't about to let her guard down around anyone that was so chatty towards someone they didn't know. She had learned the hard way too many times in the past to not allow herself to become friendly with a stranger. Either they were really a creep who wanted to hurt her, or they were just too annoying for her to handle. Most times she rather them be a creep than annoying because then she could at least beat them senseless in self-defense.

A few more awkward minutes of silence passed as the two sat next to each other. The chatty guy next to Sable had pulled out a book to read while she continued to try her best to keep her groans to a minimum. Meanwhile, the rest of the flight around them was filled with people becoming friends or just partaking in small talk. Sable wasn't sure if the airsickness was worse than the fact that the awkward silence between her and the person next to her felt louder than the chatter going on all around them. She closed her eyes tightly and gritted her teeth before gently head butting the window and turning to the stranger.

"Gimme a piece." Sable snapped under her breath.

"What was that? You're going to have to speak up." The once chatty young man said sarcastically without looking up from his book.

"I said give me a piece of your gum." Sable extended her hand before looking away embarrassedly.

The young man chuckled softly under his breath before gently placing his book in his lap and leaning down to fish another piece of his special gum out of his bag. He smiled at Sable as he dropped a piece in her extended hand. Sable quickly threw the piece in her mouth and started chewing the gum. Almost instantly she felt a calming sensation wash over her. Her stomach also almost immediately started to ease from her chewing the strange gum. Her face must have shown a funny reaction to the gum because the young man laughed heavily at Sable before extending a hand to her.

"The name's Eurig Nyral, nice to meet you…" The young man trailed off as he awaited Sable's response.

Sable hesitated but finally took Eurig's hand firmly and forced a small smile to the surface. The young man before her seemed nice enough but she was still cautious of him. He had a kind look to him but the way he carried himself and the intensity of his grip proved that he was a lot more powerful than he let on.

"Sable. Sable Inari." She replied.

"Nice to meet you, Sable." Eurig responded with a grin and a confident nod.


	2. Chapter 2

**II**

Sable and Eurig talked for what seemed like a lifetime. Even though Sable was still uneasy about getting to know Eurig, or letting him get to know her, she was slowly starting to loosen up with him. Eurig's family had moved from Vacuo recently, which would explain why he was wearing a Shade Academy shirt. He had explained to Sable that his father was a dock worker in Vale while his mother was an ambulance worker at a hospital.

"So your dad actually teaches at Beacon? That's actually pretty cool." Eurig said in response to finding out what Sable's father did for a living.

"I guess, but this is his first semester there. He worked as a Huntsman for a short time before meeting my mother. Once they got married he retired and they opened a small restaurant on Menagerie." Sable responded with a shrug.

"A restaurant? That's just as cool, honestly. What ever happened to it once they decided to come to Vale?" Eurig asked curiously.

"Oh they still have it. They just moved it here. My mom runs it. I worked there ever since I met them. Honestly, it's going to feel a bit odd not working there until we have breaks." Sable answered without thinking about what she was saying.

"Ever since you met them? What do you mean by that?" Eurig tilted his head as he thought about what Sable had said.

"Shit." Sable muttered under her breath. She had hoped to not spill that she was adopted so soon. "Yeah, I've only known my parents for about two years now. They adopted me when I was sixteen. My original family died when I was ten years old."

Eurig shrugged, not letting the confession bother him. With every minute that passed between Sable and Eurig, she felt like he was being fully honest with her. Yet at the same time she couldn't help but continue to want to keep her guard up around him. If he was fully genuine then he would be the first person besides Sable's parents to show concern for her.

"I mean at least you have a family now, right?" Eurig responded with that boyish smile of his.

Sable looked at her new friend with a stunned expression. Usually when she disclosed to someone that she was once an orphan, they would give her the typical pity filled response. However, this young man simply shrugged it off like it was no big deal. He didn't even bother to ask how her parents had died. She went to respond to him when a voice rang out over the PA system onboard the airship.

"Attention all passengers, we are making our final approach to Beacon Academy. Please wait until we have come to a complete stop before gathering your things. Once outside, you are to head straight to the main hall to begin your orientation. Thank you." The voice on the PA system said in a very monotone voice. Many of the students barely acted like they heard a word of what was said and just went back to chatting amongst themselves.

"Everyone seems so excited to be at Beacon." Sable muttered under her breathe before sadly looking out the window.

"What was that?" Eurig questioned her with another tilt of his head.

"Oh, nothing. Just said I guess everyone is excited to get to Beacon!" Sable nervously laughed and forced a smile to the surface.

"That's everyone except you, I take it?" Eurig gave Sable another boyish smile.

Sable's tail twitched at how easily her new friend could see through her. She nervously laughed again before gritting her teeth while thinking of a response. However, before she could think of one she felt her stomach lurch again as the airship began to descend.

"Oh, come on! I just got used to the flying. Now what is this giant pile of crap doing?" Sable whined as she glanced back out of the window.

"I'd assume we are landing." Eurig laughed at Sable's reaction before offering her another piece of gum. "Here, this should hold you over until we get done in the main hall." He continued, laughing even harder as Sable hesitantly took the piece of gum and started chewing it.

Not to long after the airship docked, Sable and Eurig were standing inside the main hall of Beacon with dozens of other students. It appeared that most the students arriving at the school were transfers from other academies. However, there appeared that a few of the students were late starting freshmen as well as transfers.

Sable let out a sigh as she thought about how she so easily could have just been considered a freshman. However, with her father being a new teacher at Beacon it didn't seem likely that they would go so easily on her. It would have been bad enough that she would have been a full year older than most of the freshman. Not to mention her natural talents she had to teach herself over the years, which she was sure her father told everyone he could while trying to get her into the school. Sable just shook her head as she thought about the image of her father going out of his way to boast about her.

After the new students entered the hall, the lights dimmed slightly as a tall figure with a cane walked out onto the stage that was in the middle of the room. With him was another figure, a blonde woman with glasses and a cape. The slender man cleared his throat before leaning in to speak into a microphone.

"Good morning, students. My name is Professor Ozpin. I am the headmaster here at Beacon and I would like to personally thank all of you for transferring to our academy. Now, because of your tight schedule over the next few days we will not be doing our typical test we use to form teams. However, each one of you will meet at the series of tables at the sides of the room and turn in your transfer paperwork. From here we will place your information into our system and you will be formed into teams based on your information. Be warned, however. Some of your teammates will not be the perfect match for you. This is intended because by the time you graduate here you will have learned to put aside your differences and form an ideal team. Good luck, and have a great semester." The man smiled gently before walking off the stage with the blonde woman and preceded to one of the tables.

"Hey, let's get in line before everyone tries to rush into place." Eurig whispered to Sable before grabbing her elbow and pulling her along to the table that Ozpin was sitting at.

By the time they had gotten into line, a few other students had already jumped into place ahead of them. As they waited they overheard many students who had transferred together chat amongst themselves. Some of the students openly expressed how they wished they would be teamed up together while others tried making friends with students in line with them. Sable silently waited behind Eurig as she searched her bag for her transfer paperwork. Her father had filled out all the paperwork for her because she was homeschooled.

After a few moments, she breathed a sigh of relief as she pulled the thin folder out of her bag. As she was about to open it to read over what her father had wrote in it she heard a harsh grunt. Startled, she looked up from the folder to see the blonde woman glaring at her from the table. Sable had gotten so distracted that she didn't notice that she was next in line.

"Your file?" The woman growled as she reached out for Sable's paperwork.

"Sorry, I guess I kind of zoned out." Sable replied with an embarrassed chuckle before surrendering her transfer papers to the woman.

"First day here and you're already lost? Maybe Beacon isn't right for you, child." The woman snarled in response before handing the folder to Ozpin. She seemed as if she was about to continue her insults when Ozpin raised his hand, silencing her.

"Now, Glynda. It's perfectly normal for a new student to be lost in thought on their big day at a new school. Try to remember that we were students once as well, yes?" He said calmly before smiling gently at Sable. "Now, it says here that your name is Sable. You wouldn't happen to be the daughter of our new professor, would you?" Ozpin questioned her, looking at her over his glasses.

Sable blushed deeply with embarrassment as students within hearing range heard that her father was a professor at Beacon. Whispering broke out between some of them while others just looked at her. She had been at this school only a few hours and she was already being judged based on something as trivial as who her father was.

"Y-yes, sir. My father is Professor Inari." Sable responded.

"I see. You know, your father had to pull a lot of strings to have you accepted here. He seems to have high standards for you. Hopefully you prove that his judgement wasn't misplaced. Sage is a good man and was a talented Huntsman so I'd imagine when he tells me that his daughter, whom has never had any official training, is extremely gifted then he must be giving me accurate information." Ozpin continued to read Sable's file and smiled as he reached a certain page. "Thank you, Sable. You may return to where the rest of the students are waiting." He finished before nodding to Sable.

Sable nervously walked from the table towards the growing crowd of students that had already turned in their paperwork. She stood alone for what felt like an eternity when a familiar voice spoke up behind her.

"Having fun yet?" The voice asked cheerfully.

Sable spun around and felt relief rise in her as she saw that Eurig had managed to find her in the crowd. Although the young man was strange and at times annoying to her, he was the only friend Sable had at the school and his cheerful attitude seemed to balance her own worries and insecurities away from her.

"No, I apparently pissed off that blonde teacher and Ozpin openly discussed my dad being a teacher here in front of everyone. I could feel at least a dozen other students glare into my soul from behind." Sable grunted with a frown.

"Jeez, that sounds rough. Today just isn't your day, is it?" Eurig replied with a loud chuckle before slapping Sable on the back, almost knocking her over from his immense strength. "Well cheer up, word is that they're going to announce the teams shortly." He continued.

"Teams?" Sable titled her head to the side in response.

"Oh, right. Forgot you're new to all this. Well, at the combat schools you mainly learn and train as a class or on an individual level. While here at Huntsman academies, you are placed into teams of four to train as small groups. It helps teach teamwork and comradery that we will need later in our careers." Eurig explained briefly. "Oh, it looks like Ozpin is about to take the stage again. Maybe it's time for him to announce the teams." He continued excitedly.

Ozpin walked slowly to the microphone stand that was still resting in the center of the large stage and took a sip from his mug before smiling at the crowd of students.

"Thank you for being patient, everyone. Now, normally with first year students we conduct a small test to determine how the teams are formed and led. However, with you all being transfer students, this isn't needed. All of you have given us the information we required to build the teams you will be training alongside for the rest of your time here at Beacon. We will announce them now." Ozpin announced as the lights in the hall grew dim and the large screen above him lit up with the first team and its members' names.

Several minutes passed as one team after another was announced. With every team being formed Sable could feel her stomach start to tighten as she thought about the idea of having to work with three other students for the next two years. She glanced to Eurig, who was still standing beside her, and secretly started to hope that he would be on the same team as her. He was the only person she knew at Beacon and she didn't think she could handle forming friendships with two other teammates without his help. She sighed deeply as she tried to calm herself when Ozpin got to another team.

"Next we have Team SLTE. A second-year team. Its members are Lilac Paris of Haven Academy, Teal Morna of Shade Academy, Eurig Nyarl of Shade Academy…" Ozpin read of the names of the team and suddenly Eurig started to stir next to Sable.

"No way, I'm on a team with Teal?" He beamed with excitement.

Sable felt her stomach tighten even worse as only one teammate slot was left on Eurig's team. He seemed to be very happy that he was placed on the same team as Teal, who seemed to have been at the same academy as Eurig before transferring to Beacon. Sable looked down at her feet in frustration while listening to the rest of the team's members being announced.

"The leader of Team SLTE will be Sable Kitsune, a non-affiliated student transferring into Beacon." Ozpin finished with a grin.

Sable's heart nearly stopped at the name he just spoke. The family name he announced was one that she had not heard in years. Suddenly a wave of emotions filled her and her body began to shake. There must have been a mistake, Ozpin calling her by her original family name. No way would her father put Kitsune down instead of Inari. She suddenly felt a knot form in her throat as she struggled to accept that the name that she had not been called since the death of her parents had just been said.

"Sable Kitsune? Who's that?" Eurig asked before noticing that Sable was shaking violently. "Whoa, you okay?" He gently placed a hand on Sable's shoulder as he bent down to check on her.

"I-I'm Sable Kitsune. Kitsune is the name of my original family." Sable stammered before pushing Eurig away and running through the crowd to escape outside where she preceded to vomit.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! So I know it has been several months since I last updated this story. I do apologize for this as I honestly was going through a lot of struggles in my life and I hope you understand. Among these struggles was that I had lost my spark to write and so took a hiatus away from writing in order to work on some personal matters. But I am back to writing my stories and, with this new chapter, will be updating all stories on a regular basis. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **III**

Sable awoke in a bright room filled with medical equipment. Her head was killing her and as she touched the side of it she found that she had bandages wrapped around it. She slowly sat up and as her eyes adjusted to the bright lights she noticed that she was not alone in the room. Next to her bed in a padded chair was a sleeping Eurig. His blue t-shirt he had been wearing the last time she had seen him had been replaced with a black tank top. Behind him was his Beacon uniform hanging on a cabinet.

Sable was taken aback as she realized that Eurig was much more muscular than she had first noticed. His pectoral muscles were bulging from under the tank top while his biceps, which were no longer mostly covered by his Shade Academy t-shirt, had large veins at the surface. His brow was damp with sweat and his blonde hair looked as if it had just been washed. He wore a pair of bracelets on his wrists that she had not noticed before.

Sable removed the blankets that laid draped across her and slowly tried getting off the bed. However, as she went to stand she almost fell back down as Eurig's eyes snapped open to look at her. It wasn't so much his insanely good reflexes and situational awareness that startled Sable, but that she could of swore that she saw what looked like a bright flash appear in his right palm. He gave her a boyish smile and stretched before scratching his chin.

"So, you're awake? Gave me a scare back there. You freaked out, bolted from the assembly, and when I went to check on you outside I found you passed out next to a pile of vomit with your head split open." He stated in a very matter of fact way.

"Did I wake you?" Sable replied with a hint of embarrassment in her voice as she shifted on the bed.

"What?" Eurig replied. "Oh, no. I was just resting my eyes. I always take a nap after working out." He continued with a small chuckle.

Sable raised an eyebrow at him as she pondered on his statement. She had also been known to take long naps after serious training. But that was for only after her weekly sessions where she would push herself to the point of exhaustion. Most of the time she would only work up a strong appetite after one of her daily workout sessions. After a few moments, she realized she was becoming lost in her own thoughts and shook her head gently.

"Enough about me though, how are you feeling? You've been out for close to three days." Eurig questioned her out of concern.

"Three days!? How?" Sable exclaimed with shock.

"When you passed out you hit your head on the pavement. Your Aura would have normally softened the blow but because of you passing out it didn't respond and so you gave yourself a pretty nice smack. The medics revived you briefly but you sort of went crazy and tried fighting them so they've kept you sedated to allow you to come out of it yourself. Not to mention papers started pouring out of your bag like they had a mind of their own and…" Eurig explained but before he could finish, Sable interrupted him suddenly.

"Where is my bag?" Sable snapped before leaping to her feet.

"It's by the door. Your uniform is hanging on the post on the door as well." Eurig replied in a confused tone as he pointed to the closed door across the room from the pair.

Sable darted to where her bag was laying and quickly started rustling through it. Eurig looked on confused as he tried to understand how anyone who was just in a coma could move so quickly. She barely seemed to acknowledge Eurig's existence as she threw things from her bag on to the bed and floor before sighing deeply and pulling a large crimson leather clad book from the bag.

"Thank the gods! I thought I lost this!" Sable exclaimed excitedly as she held the book in the air.

"Uh, what is it?" Eurig questioned as he stepped up behind Sable and peered at the book, which was held at his eye level.

Sable's tail twitched as she finally realized how much larger Eurig truly was compared to her. The young man must have been at least six foot two, which compared to Sable's five foot seven height seemed huge. Not to mention while Sable was a naturally slim woman, yet muscular and toned in her own right at one hundred and twenty pounds, Eurig was a literal mountain of muscles and had to weigh at least two hundred and fifty pounds. Sable skipped forward a few steps and spun around playfully to hold up her book.

The book was large and had crimson colored leather as it's cover. On the cover were a series of strange blue runes and spirals. In the center of the cover was a large lock that mysteriously had no keyhole in it.

"This, dear Eurig, is my prized possession! It's one of my weapons." Sable grinned in hopes that her friend found her weapon as cool as she did.

"But it's a book? Most people who come to these schools have like, I don't know, an actual weapon." Eurig questioned her as he tilted his head at the book.

"It's not just a book. It's a grimoire." Sage Inari chimed in from the doorway nearby.

Both Eurig and Sable nearly jumped out of their skin as the older faunus made his presence known. Somehow, in all the excitement over Sable's book, Sage had managed to sneak into the doorway without either of the two students noticing. After a few moments, Sable's tail started to sway back and forth as she beamed at her father.

"Hey, dad! Snuck up on me. I guess you're here to check in on me?" Sable questioned her father in a playful tone as he entered the room fully.

"More for your mother's sake than yours, to be perfectly honest." Sage sighed heavily. "You're lucky that she didn't book the first airship here to drag you back home by your tail."

"Dad!" Sable whined in protest and blushed deeply. "Do you know how embarrassing it'd be if she did that?"

"Probably less embarrassing than what happened earlier?" Sage chuckled playfully before ducking a punch thrown by his daughter.

"Excuse me, not to break up this heartwarming family moment but what exactly is a grimoire?" Eurig chimed.

Sage laughed playfully as he had almost forgotten that the young man was still in the room with them.

"Well, Mister Nyral, a grimoire is an ancient weapon from a time where Dust weaponry was in its infancy. Not much is known about them except that there are very few remaining in Remnant and that it seems to be infused with Dust. In a weapon sense, it can expel its pages before they take the form of whatever their master wishes them to be. Sometimes it's a bow, sometimes it's a blade. It also seems that grimoire may have minds of their own in that they seem to choose who may use them. Among other odd properties." Sage explained quickly.

"Other properties?" Eurig questioned as he looked at the odd book.

"You'll have to see for yourself. I've got a meeting with Ozpin that I'm late to. He said something about wanting to discuss somethings with the new instructors. Meanwhile, I believe that both you and my daughter have your first class of the day shortly. You both have combat training with Professor Goodwich soon, so you may want to hurry along to her." Sage responded as he glanced at his watch. "She gets a bit touchy when people are late so make sure you both get going quickly." He continued.

"There are other new teachers besides you?" Sable asked curiously.

"Just one other. She's an interesting one but from what I understand she's been out of the Huntress game for a long time. I'm sure it's nothing too vital of a meeting so it should be fine that I'm a few minutes late. Either way, I should get going. See ya, kid." Sage nodded at Eurig and Sable before leaving, shutting the door behind him.

Eurig stood silent for a few moments as he watched Sable's father leave the room. He turned around to speak to Sable but nearly jumped as she removed her shirt and fished a stick of deodorant out of her bag.

"What the hell are you doing?" Eurig exclaimed as he covered his eyes and blushed a deep red.

"I'm cleaning up, duh. What are you doing?" Sable replied as she spread the deodorant onto herself.

Eurig couldn't help but still a look at his topless friend for a few seconds. Besides her toned body, he noticed a large tattoo that covered a large part of her body. The part on the front of her body appeared to be a snake like tail on her right hip that rose upwards onto her abdomen before wrapping around her side and continuing up her back. Eurig shook his head as he realized that he was staring at her.

"I'm wondering what made you think it'd be okay to strip down to your bra with a guy you don't know in front of you!" Eurig turned his back to Sable and snatched her uniform off the door before holding it up behind himself.

"What's wrong, big guy? Never seen a girl in her bra?" Sable responded teasingly as she took her uniform from her friend.

"I don't really think that's an appropriate question, Sable." He replied with a deep blush as he kept his back to Sable.

"Oh, settle down." Sable answered as she changed into her uniform. "If you're uncomfortable with as harmless as me in a bra then I won't do it again." She continued, feeling bad about her actions.

"Thank you, now you heard your father. We can't be late for Goodwitch's class. We can talk more on the way there." Eurig grabbed Sable's wrist as he spoke and dragged her out of the room.

A short time later, the duo was approaching a crowd of students situated outside of the combat training hall. Eurig hesitated a moment and stopped Sable with a gentle, yet heavy, hand on her shoulder. She turned to him, tilting her head to the side in a confused manner.

"What's up?" Sable asked her companion with a somewhat worried tone. She noticed that he had suddenly not acted like himself.

In fact, Sable had noticed that Eurig had acted a little odd ever since he spoke to her father. Sage could take a bit getting used to at times, even to the point that some of his own colleagues found him to be strange. But even so, Eurig had only spoken to her father for a few minutes. And even then, he hadn't been really part of the conversation as much an audience of it. While Sable pondered on what could be causing her friend to be acting so funny, Eurig sighed with frustration.

"Look, I know we aren't really supposed to ask this sort of stuff. But, since we are teammates I figure it'd make sense to get to know each other in a more tactical sense." Eurig started with a small blush as he tried to word his intentions just right.

"What?" Sable's tail flicked as she hung on the silence between the two of them. "You still thinking about me in a bra? Look, it's normal for a boy your age to…" She started to trail off before Eurig shot her a glare that made her stop in her tracks.

"Can you be serious for just thirty seconds?" He snapped at her, his hands crunching as he balled them into fists.

"Jeez, okay what's on your mind. Damn, it's almost like you don't have a sense of humor." Sable shrugged before smirking mischievously.

"If you are selected to spar with anyone, it's okay for you to back out of the fight. After all, you did sustain a pretty nasty head injury." The young man voiced his concerns as gently as he could, for he could already tell from his partner's antics that she was extremely proud and stubborn.

"I should punch you in the face for even suggesting I do such a thing!" Sable snapped bitterly at him before taking a step toward him.

Even though Sable was pathetically outsized by her mountain of a friend, Eurig could see in her glowing red eyes something stir. For a moment, the red in her eyes darkened in color. Before he could fully react to what he saw, or at least thought he saw, it seemed that Sable had noticed something as well and quickly turned away and fished a black bandanna out of her bag and tied it around her neck before clutching at it.

"I'll be fine, okay? Don't worry about me so much. I mean come on, we've been here for like a minute and you're already trying to be protective?" Sable muttered under her breath as she began to walk towards the crowd.

"One more thing." Eurig replied as he pointed at Sable's grimoire. "Is that your semblance or is it really a weapon? You haven't met the rest of our team yet but they are going to be quite nosey to find out everything they can about their leader. Especially if she gets selected for combat sparing and suddenly uses a book as a weapon." He continued.

"What? My grimoire being my semblance? Don't be silly, big guy. I told you it's one of my weapons. My semblance isn't exactly something I really enjoy discussing. It's not that I don't see your point. It's just I can't talk about it just yet with you." Sable answered in an apologetic tone before walking up to the crowd of students.

As Eurig and Sable made their way through the crowd, Sable couldn't help but hear several students talking about her. There were, of course, a few students making the typical racist remarks but more so there were students talking about her accident at the new student assembly.

"I saw it happen, you know. She was freaking out and just started puking everywhere. Then bam! Right into the pavement. Thankfully, one of the teachers was walking by when it happened." One of the normal, non-transfer, students was saying to one of her friends.

"Do you know which teacher it was that helped her? I heard it was one that nobody has really seen around here." The other student remarked.

"No, but it's true that he doesn't teach here. I heard he teaches at Signal Academy and nobody knows why he was here. He disappeared shortly after the medics and her teammate came to help. I do remember he was tall, skinny, had really greasy black hair, and had red eyes." The first student replied.

Sable shook her head and blocked out the chatter. If she allowed herself to start to care what the other students thought of her then he was certain she would vomit from disgust. It was bad enough that she was forced to attend this school but now she was apparently the latest big thing to gossip about. She managed to smile slightly, however. The one good thing about being at Beacon was that she made friends with Eurig.

While Sable was barely paying attention to her surroundings, Eurig elbowed her to get her attention. Sable glanced to him and saw that he was standing with two female students. One of the students was tall and slender with short pixie style silver hair and light purple eyes. She had a kind face and looked to Sable with respect and gently nodded towards her. The other female student was about Sable's height and rolled her eyes at the sight of her. She had long, braided hair with greenish blue eyes.

"Sable, I'd like you to meet our team. First is Teal." Eurig gestured to the one with red hair who just raised an eyebrow. "And this is Lilac." The taller girl smiled at Sable.

She looked as if she was going to speak when the crowd of students began to enter the building. Sable followed the rest of her team in and they took a seat towards the front of the room. The students chatted amongst themselves when Goodwitch entered the room, to which all the students grew silent. Professor Goodwitch stood silent in the middle of the floor and looked through the room as she checked off names on her scroll. Her eyes stopped on Sable and her team and Goodwitch frowned more than she usually does.

"Thank you for finally joining us, Miss Kitsune. I hope your injuries have healed nicely and that you're ready to begin your classes." Goodwitch looked back down at her scroll as she checked off Sable's teammates.

"Inari, ma'am." Sable spoke up with an annoyed tone, to which Goodwitch's eyes darted up.

"Excuse me?" She replied.

"My family name is not Kitsune. It's Inari." Sable stood her ground.

"If you have a problem with what our records have as your name then you can take it up with Professor Ozpin. Otherwise, please keep quite." Goodwitch responded with a glare. "Now, with that out of the way let us get to business. We will be having two sparring matches today. The first is to demonstrate how two fighters with similar fighting styles may struggle to overcome each other in battle. The second is to demonstrate the same point but with fighters of different styles. This is to show that some battles require more thinking than skill to achieve victory." She continued.

Professor Goodwitch stood silent for a few moments while she looked through her scroll and selected the first two students to spar with each other.

"Now, first we have two brawler style fighters. Everyone watch closely and take notes on how if you are skilled enough, your fists are just as good of a weapon as a blade. Yang Xiao Long and Eurig Nyarl, please meet in the sparring area." She then walked to the edge of the fighting area and sat in a chair behind her desk.

Shortly after, Yang and Eurig were standing across from each other. Yang was grinning from ear to ear while Eurig had a serious frown on his face. As they stood in the center, Goodwitch brought up the large screen above them to display their Aura gauges. Yang's gauntlets shined in the dim light and she stretched, never allowing her confident smile to leave her face. Meanwhile, Eurig leveled his hands over each other and used his middle fingers to push a button on each bracelet around his wrists. Suddenly, his bracelets snapped open and armor plating shot up his arms to his shoulders. His frown quickly turned into a smile like Yang's as he entered his fighting stance. Yang responded with her smile changing from one of confidence to one of pure excitement.

Meanwhile, inside Professor Ozpin's office, Sage strolled in with a nervous look on his face. The meeting he was late to was well underway and he could tell from the raised voices that it wasn't going well. As he entered the conversation came to a sudden stop as Ozpin, Ironwood, and a black-haired woman with red eyes all turned to look at Sage.

"Ah, Sage. I was worried you'd miss this since your daughter fell ill. Thank you for coming as fast as you could." Ozpin said with a gentle and understanding smile.

"I apologize, sir. I had to check on Sable. She's doing much better and is awake. Have I missed much?" Sage responded with a nod.

"Just some very vocal disagreements and the introduction for our newest instructor since we are going to be teaching our students survival training starting this semester." Ozpin replied as he motioned towards the woman with black hair.

"And who might this be?" Sage asked with a tilt of his head.

"My name is Raven Branwen. And as Oz said, I'm Beacon's survival new instructor." The woman answered with a confident smirk.


End file.
